Stance: Anti-Imperialist Occupation: Co-Creator of the NAACP, Sociologist
Background: The first African-American to graduate Harvard, W.E.B. DuBois, went on to be an avid civil and black rights activist as well as a sociologist and author. While teaching at the University of Atlanta, DuBois had also spent some time as a writer and editor of his own books, which later began famous, and a newspaper. Being dissatisfied with how the U.S. government handled civil rights and segregation, he decided to leave for Ghana for several year beginning in 1961. Unfortuneately his health declined and he died in Ghana on August 27, 1963.
Position: W. E. B. DuBois was an Anti-Imperialist because he believed the government was already failing at its foundation of a nation of liberty and equality that was governed by the people. He felt that the annexation of any countries, although economically and politically a good idea, went against the basic beliefs and ideals of the U.S.A. and should not be allowed. He felt that until the nation could promise equality and civil rights for the people already in the U.S., as they were failing to do with the segregation in the South, they could not rightfully and morally annex a nation to the United States that deserved liberty not a ruler. If the government truly planned to annex the nation simply to defend the Philippines and give them their independence later on, DuBois would have supported the annexation, but he knew the government sought to annex the nation for political, economic, and social reasons that were equivalent to an imperial conquest. The annexation was for the good of American wallets not the good of the Filipinos.
List of Reasons:
Anti-Imperialist
against war
did not want the U.S. to become an empire
Civil Rights Activist
hated violence
feared over extension of U.S. borders and military
feared over powerful Government
believed U.S. would abuse civil liberties
believed government would flout the Constitution or limit rights in annexed nations
Works Cited:
DuBois, W. E. B. The Autobiography of W. E. B. DuBois: a Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century. New York: Internat. Publ., 1975. Print.
Hynes, Gerald C. "A Biographical Sketch of W.E.B. DuBois." W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center. W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center. Web. 08 Nov. 2011. <http://www.duboislc.org/html/DuBoisBio.html>.
William Edward Burghardt DuBois
Stance: Anti-ImperialistOccupation: Co-Creator of the NAACP, Sociologist
Background: The first African-American to graduate Harvard, W.E.B. DuBois, went on to be an avid civil and black rights activist as well as a sociologist and author. While teaching at the University of Atlanta, DuBois had also spent some time as a writer and editor of his own books, which later began famous, and a newspaper. Being dissatisfied with how the U.S. government handled civil rights and segregation, he decided to leave for Ghana for several year beginning in 1961. Unfortuneately his health declined and he died in Ghana on August 27, 1963.
Position: W. E. B. DuBois was an Anti-Imperialist because he believed the government was already failing at its foundation of a nation of liberty and equality that was governed by the people. He felt that the annexation of any countries, although economically and politically a good idea, went against the basic beliefs and ideals of the U.S.A. and should not be allowed. He felt that until the nation could promise equality and civil rights for the people already in the U.S., as they were failing to do with the segregation in the South, they could not rightfully and morally annex a nation to the United States that deserved liberty not a ruler. If the government truly planned to annex the nation simply to defend the Philippines and give them their independence later on, DuBois would have supported the annexation, but he knew the government sought to annex the nation for political, economic, and social reasons that were equivalent to an imperial conquest. The annexation was for the good of American wallets not the good of the Filipinos.
List of Reasons:
Works Cited:
DuBois, W. E. B. The Autobiography of W. E. B. DuBois: a Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century. New York: Internat. Publ., 1975. Print.
Hynes, Gerald C. "A Biographical Sketch of W.E.B. DuBois." W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center. W.E.B. DuBois Learning Center. Web. 08 Nov. 2011. <http://www.duboislc.org/html/DuBoisBio.html>.
"W.E.B. Du Bois Biography - Facts, Birthday, Life Story - Biography.com." Famous Biographies & TV Shows - Biography.com. Britannica. Web. 08 Nov. 2011. <http://www.biography.com/people/web-du-bois-9279924?page=2>.